half-lifeˈhalf-life noun [countable] 
Examples
ExamplesEXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
word sets- But it has a half-life of just 140 days so there can be little delay manufacture and its incorporation into a bomb.
- No one has a long half-life as the star of the program.
- The daily intake should be divided into at least three doses because of the short half-life.
- The more complete descriptive term is drug elimination half-life.
- The time it takes for a dose of a drug to wear off is measured by a value called a half-life.
- The time taken for half of the atoms of a radioactive isotope to decay is called its half-life.
- These effects are less marked with fentanyl because of its shorter serum half-life.
- With a half-life of 12 years, tritium could build up in the Tamar estuary and eventually enter the human food chain.
WORD SETS► Physics
Collocationsaether, nounamplitude, nounantimatter, nounantiparticle, nounastrophysics, nounatom, nounatomic, adjectiveattract, verbattraction, nounballistics, nounbeam, nounblack hole, nounbuoyancy, nouncalorie, nouncalorific, adjectivecapillary action, nouncathode ray tube, nouncentre of gravity, nouncentrifugal force, nouncentrifuge, nouncentripetal force, nounchain reaction, nouncondensation, nounconduct, verbconduction, nounconductive, adjectiveconductor, nounconvect, verbconvection, nouncore, nouncritical mass, noundemagnetize, verbdense, adjectivedensity, noundisplacement, noundynamic, adjectiveelectron, nounelementary particle, nounfallout, nounfissile, adjectivefission, nounfocus, verbfrequency, nounfriction, nounfusion, noungamma ray, noungravitation, noungravitational, adjectivegravity, nounhalf-life, nounhertz, nounhydraulic, adjectiveHz, imaging, nounimpetus, nouninertia, nouninvariable, adjectiveion, nounionize, verbkinetic, adjectivelaser, nounlift, nounliquefaction, nounliquefy, verblodestone, nounmagnet, nounmagnetic, adjectivemagnetic field, nounmagnetism, nounmagnetize, verbmass, nounmechanical, adjectivemedium, nounmeltdown, nounmomentum, nounmotive, adjectivemushroom cloud, nounnatural philosophy, nounneutron, nounNewtonian, adjectivenuclear, adjectivenuclear fission, nounnuclear fusion, nounnuclear physics, nounnuclear reactor, nounnucleus, nounoptical fibre, nounparticle accelerator, nounparticle physics, nounphonic, adjectivephosphorescence, nounphosphorescent, adjectivephoto-, prefixphoton, nounphotosensitive, adjectivephotosensitize, verbphysical, adjectivephysicist, nounphysics, nounpivot, nounpolar, adjectivepole, nounpotential energy, nounpower, nounpressure, nounpropulsion, nounproton, nounpull, nounquantum mechanics, nounquantum theory, nounquark, nounradiate, verbradiation, nounradio wave, nounray, nounreaction, nounreactor, nounreflect, verbreflector, nounrefract, verbrelativity, nounrepel, verbrepulsion, nounrepulsive, adjectiveresilience, nounresilient, adjectiveresistance, nounresonance, nounretention, nounsolid-state, adjectivesonic, adjectivesonic boom, nounsound wave, nounspace, nounspecific gravity, nounspectral, adjectivespectroscope, nounspectrum, nounstatics, nounsteady state theory, nounstrain, nounstress, nounsurface tension, nountension, nounthermodynamics, nounthrust, nountraction, nountrajectory, nountransmit, verbultrasonic, adjectiveultrasound, nounvacuum, nounvaporize, verbvapour, nounvector, nounwave, nounwavelength, nounwork, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE► short
the length of time it takes a radioactive substance to lose half of its radioactivity· These effects are less marked with fentanyl because of its shorter serum half-life.· The daily intake should be divided into at least three doses because of the short half-life.· The third isotope of hydrogen, hydrogen-3 or tritium, is highly radioactive and has a very short half-life.